This game was always a strange enigma. The graphics and digitized voices are actually really good for an NES game and it shows a lot of love for the Stooges shorts. There’s just not much to it in the gameplay department.
I used to play this on the Commodore 64 back around ‘87 or ‘88. The Ghostbusters 2 image was the animated intro to “Defender of the Crown” instead which was Cinemaware’s other big game at the time. I thought they packed the wrong disks in the box. They got me too. lol
I never noticed that the image of the banker on the box art for the game was a picture of Ted Healy. That is a really cool Easter egg. You're correct about the Stooges relationship with Healy. Healy was an alcoholic with a bad temper who paid the Stooges peanuts. Ironically, if not for Shemp leaving the act due to Healy, Curly wouldn't have joined the act.
I rented this game as a kid in the late 80s, forgot everything about it, and then all the great memories came flooding back when I heard “Hey fellas - we’re in the wrong game!”
It is gratifying to see a review of the Three Stooges Games after all these years. I created the audio for the Amiga version which was the first game platform that could do justice to this license. Incredible Technologies (the developer of the Amiga, PC and C64 versions of the game) got the award in 1986 for best game audio. It was tough. I was working from VHS tapes and digitizing on a PC was just barely possible. Still, I'm proud of the result on the Amiga (your mileage on other platforms will vary). All those days in the "Stooge Mines" paid off and I am glad that we had a chance to work on this 'evergreen' license.
The minigame where you hit the other stooges was about changing the speed the hand moved when selecting a minigame. If you successfully hit them enough, you'd slow it down.
Hanna-Barbera also did Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello at around that same time, though it oddly took them about 20 more years to get around to the Little Rascals.
I had this game for my Commodore 64 in the late 80s-early 90s. Though the version I had the 'wrong game' title at the beginning was "Defender of the Crown", not "Ghostbusters".
Does anyone remember the Silent Film Live Stage Show at Universal Studios in the mid-80s? They would take people from the audience and put them in movie scenes, like flying a plane of jumping off a cliff. The final "scene" was to take all the volunteers and put them in a big pie fight. I wasn't selected and it's scarred me for the last 30 years.
Akron Ohio in the 80’s had a 3stooges fest… when I was a kid. I always wanted to do the curly shuffle … I memorized it.. when that event came… my parents wouldn’t let me go on stage… I think the prize was 100$.. to this day I will never go on a stage
I've never watched any Stooges media in my life, but your channel makes me really want to get into them! This game was one of my only reference points for them when the AVGN did a video on it a few years ago
I had this game for the Commodore 64. Loved it. By the way, the hand slap mini-game controls the speed of the hand in the selection. SOOOO if you get the handslap going good, the hand on the selection slows down. Hence you won't stop on the mousetrap.
I had this game, and one of my favorites was also the oyster soup minigame. But it drove me nuts when an oyster would bite your spoon, you'd hear Curly yell... and then they'd cut to that stupid shot of him looking at the bowl with that dumb sheepish grin. It didn't fit, and it always pissed me off, because it felt lazy and didn't make sense. Also, I hadn't yet seen that episode of the Three Stooges it was based on, so when I saw that episode years later after playing the game so much as a kid, it was pretty interesting.
None of them are quite the multimedia feast of the Cinemaware Stooges game, But I always enjoyed the Stooges Arcade game, "Brides is Brides" (Featuring a Billy Gilbert-esq Opera Singer bonus stage), and the Laurel and Hardy Commodore 64 game (Which probably should have been called Laurel Vs. Hardy since it's a two player slapstick war). There's also a Honeymooners PC game (where you have to drive the bus as Ralph, and navigate the sewers as Norton). I guess what I'm hinting at, is I really enjoyed your take on the Stooges NES game, and would love to hear your take on other slapstick inspired games, as well!
That Ghostbusters 2 thing was only on NES which was 1990. The original game was 87 so that predated Ghostbusters2 which was 89. It was Defender of the Crown on Amiga.
I owned this game as a child. When the fake “Ghostbusters 2” logo popped up, I immediately turned off the game, assuming we had somehow gotten the wrong game. I then made my dad go and exchange the game. When I popped in the “new” one and saw the fakeout logo again... oh no... EDIT: The slapping mini game could actually be used to adjust the speed of Moe’s hand on the game selection screen! This was very useful later on as the hand speed gets really fast.
I could still picture myself as a kid in my room putting this game in for the first time and being fooled for a few seconds on that Ghostbusters II title screen. (Though it immediately seemed off since it wasn't the official GB2 logo.)
The music at 9:52 is Mozart's Sonata Facile. Also, great work as always. Had this game as a kid, and was also a big Stooges fan. I agree that the boxing minigame was garbage. I had no idea the game was updated!
i can't believe the timing on this--i looked up this exact game yesterday because your videos on the stooges had me remember that it even existed. glad to see you get to this bad boy! now of course The Curly Shuffle is next on the docket for "inexplicable stooge culture" because i cannot for the life of me understand how THAT took off.
I remember buying this game at Sears of all places. One of the best Commodore-64 games I had at the time. I remember marveling at how great the graphics were at the time.
Thought you were a little harsh on it. I loved this game on the NES and played it repeatedly when I was 15 until I got the best ending. I always thought it was a blast (though I was always baffled as to why Curly suddenly looked more like Shemp during the pie fight level). I even tracked down a copy recently so I could play it again.
I remember renting this game with my friend, and it made for a fun evening. It was less frustrating than Who Framed Roger Rabbit for the NES, and we kept trying to get the slap fights even though you don’t gain money from it.
Hey Joe, this game was made by cinema ware who made some awesome theatrical games of the 80’s. I played it on the Amiga, which looked a lot better than the NES version you had. The game was sure hard, but a lot were back then, I think I only ever got half the money, but I played on a joystick which was a lot less precise. The mini game where you play as Moe slapping Larry and Curly, the point was to bring the bar to the slower end so that the mini game selector period was slower.
My brother bought this game used in the late days of GameStop still carrying older systems. We had trouble getting it to work on our old and finnicky NES, and thought it was actually a mislabelled game for a bit because of the Ghostbusters 2 logo. We were willing to try that too, but eventually got it to work and learned the joke.
Cinemaware's games were all a bit unusual. This game came out in 1987, when video games were all a little bit unusual. The Cinemaware angle was an 'interactive movie' at this time. I loved Defender of the Crown, Three Stooges, and Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon
For your next forgotten failures you should cover National Lampoons Christmas Vacation 2 Eddies Island Adventure. Or do an Almost Classics on Funny Farm w Chevy Chase
That 3 Stooges NES game is my Childhood! There were Saturdays I would play it morning to bed time. I killed the Boxing game. My best time was 30 seconds. The game where Moe hits Larry and Curly has a point to it. The more you hit them,the slower the job searcher goes.
BTW, @5:00, about the oyster stew skit, it was first done on film in 1926 in the Billy Bevan comedy Wandering Willies, it's at 7: 50, the waiter says "These are the freshest oysters you've ever had", lol. It's probably the funniest version of the skit, IMO. Abbott and Costello also did it in a film and also their TV show. Finally Larry Stooge did it with gumbo and giant lobster hands in Income Tax Sappy. I've watched the Larry part in slow motion on RUclips and with the slurred Larry voice, its hilarious! I was going to make a video of it but got lazy, lol.
I remember playing it on the Commodore 64 and there was no ghostbusters screen. It was the stooges opening photo of the three of them with “hey this looks like a kids game.” Otherwise it’s the same game.
I distinctly remember reading about this game when it was in Nintendo Power, I remember the pie throwing scene, and the bowl of chowder stills... never played it.
Nice video. I bought this for my Commodore 64 back in the day and was amazed at the box art and contents including a history of the stooges and even a letter from moe's daughter Joan. However, I never put together that it was Ted Healy on the front. I knew that image from somewhere but couldn't place it. LOL so kudos for that. When I started my channel Three years ago one of the first videos I did was on this game. The reason there were so few mini games was due to the size of the floppies that were used in the original development. Everything had to be shrunk down to fit on one or two floppies which is no mean feat considering how large the voice samples and graphics were especially on the Amiga version. Cinemaware had wanted to include more games but did not have the space. I'm surprised you didn't show off the more impressive Amiga version which is more in Line with the version released later on the PlayStation. The NES has got to be one of the worst with its ugly color palette.
There's another Three Stooges game for PC called The Three Stooges in Treasure Hunt Hijinks. I never played it myself, but from the few images I've seen, it looks like a find the hidden object game similar to the I Spy series.
I was a MASSIVE Three Stooges fan as a child. I collected SO much of their merchandise, and this game was one of them. I was as excited as you were. LOL. Thanks so much for bringing back the memories! :)
This was my first NES game that I ever got, I loved it so much. NOTE: The point of the slapping mini-game is to slow down Moe's hand in the job selection screen. You land hits, hand goes slower. You get hit or your attacks are thwarted, hand goes faster.
I played the hell out of this on rental back when I was single digits. The rental didn't a manual, of course. So I had *no* idea what I was doing and that remained the case as I've come across the game as time went on. Nice inclusion of FuncoLand sleeve, man, that was *the* place to be. Got Guardian Heroes for Saturn at one of those.
I dont think I’ve ever seen the three stooges shorts or movies, but your way of presenting the history of them is so interesting that I cant stop watching your videos! Keep up the good work
“The Curly Shuffle” peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. Yup. That high on the Billboard Charts. Competing alongside Prince, Madonna, Jackson, Duran Duran, Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates, Talking Heads, etc. LOL
I had this on NES as a kid as well, also super surprised to find as my Dad and I were both huge Stooge fans. The game made no sense! fortunately came with a manual which kinda explained how the game was working. just a series of random mini games basically. my favorite was the hospital, and throwing pies. but the game was SUPER hard and went by extremely quickly. it kinda had a creepy quality to it.
Someone somewhere really had faith this game would eventually make it big with an audience. Damn thing got more ports and re-releases than most of the classics
So basically I can see Hats Off Entertainment as mix of Nostalgia Critic & Angry Video Game Nerd, but Just in a more calm and easy to follow narrative.
One thing you didn't mention is that each item on the rotating menu takes one day from your stock of 30. The "money" game is a gamble that you'll make more money with it than with a job. The "banker" game just wastes a day, as does the "trap" game, which also reduces your "lives". The Three Stooges game was first developed by Cinemaware, whose stock in trade was "cinematic" games presented as movie genres (serials, big bug monster movies, WWI movies, Cold War, gangsters, and historical dramas.) I beliueve this game was the only one to feature a licensed IP.
they also did Wings, based off the classic black & white movie, though that may have not "officially" been based on it and was just a heavily inspired version of it, not sure.
I remember playing this at my cousins' house when it first came out. Actually, I only remembered the soup level until now, but wow, what a flashback! 😆
I remember seeing an article about this in Nintendo Power as a kid. Didn’t know much about the Three Stooges back then though. I knew of them but not very well. Quite some time later I got it for my brother who loves the Three Stooges and enjoys this game. Didn’t know there were so many ports and remakes though. Wow.
@@shadowfrost44 I played it back in 1990, and yeah, whenever he made that derpy face and the soundbite played, it freaked me out. Uncanny valley maybe?
I was wondering why they picked Ghostbusters as the intro gag and then remembered both Ghostbusters and the Stooges are Columbia/Sony properties. That was a clever use of resources there.
Did you not realize that the fighting minigame slowed down the hand for the job selection? If you landed a ton of blows you could get the hand so slow you could basically choose which job you wanted. How do you fail to mention this?
I remember a very different Three stooges video game on PC where they're basically in a barn the entire time and the game is just a finite game where you find random items and objects that they point out on a chart on the left side of the screen and you have to find them inside this Barn within a certain time limit or you fail and it doesn't really end it just keeps going and I give you more items. I think when you find items they slap each other or make a noise or something but I'm not sure. I played it when I was like 4 years old.
Not to mention the movie has a scene where the Stooges are slapping each other in front of a brick wall while wearing overalls. I wonder if the Farley brothers knew about the game.
Ah, no way! I was actually gonna ask if you'd do a video about this, but here it already is! This game has a weird history, as noted here. They sure did like remaking and re-releasing this thing all over the place at seemingly random times. It's a pretty fun game and arguably, the NES version is the best one. (Since it has the _Ghostbusters II_ reference.)
I would say an important part of the game in the slap game. If you alternate between hitting Larry and Curly, that lowers the speed meter. That meter refers to the speed that the hand moves when you get to choose a minigame. Then if you wish, you have a much better chance at selecting a mini game you are better at for the better payout.
I rented it a few times on NES back in the day, it was one of the few games my dad, as a Stooge fan, was interested in. BTW, the slapping game can be used to slow down Moe's hand on the job select screen.
On the Tandy version of this game, the hospital level had the stooges in little cars which was more accurate to “Men In Black”, the episode it was based on.
there is actually another 3 Stooges game out there that is completely unrelated to this one. It was published by eGames in the late 2000s during the big boom in casual games and the "Hidden Object" genre and from what I remember of it, plays in that style with maybe some lite point & click adventure elements and done in a cartoony art style.
The fake out ghostbusters intro made my heart sink as a kid. They got me good.
The "Defender of the Crown" intro is just as funny on the C64 & Amiga
I first thought that was a Major glitch!
It's a nice company reference since _Ghostbusters_ is a Columbia Pictures franchise and how Columbia distributed the Three Stooges shorts.
One of the greatest, most successful, and subtle trolls in video game history.
He won't stop until he's covered literally EVERY piece of 3 Stooges media ever!
I'm here for it :)
God have mercy on him when he has to review The Robonic Stooges.
@@stardogbillionaire I loved that cartoon.
Soitenly! One of the best coverers that ever covered a cover!
You say that like it’s a bad thing
Dunno if it's of interest to you, but there was also a Charlie Chaplin video game released in the '80s for multiple systems in the UK.
I knew you'd show up eventually lol, what's up Larry?
@@mrmusickhimself yo!
And Laurel & Hardy for the Commodore 64 ... based on the Larry Harmon cartoons.
Don't forget the terrible Monty Python's Flying Circus platformer-shmup thing.
Shut up, Larry! Just shut up 😒
This game was always a strange enigma. The graphics and digitized voices are actually really good for an NES game and it shows a lot of love for the Stooges shorts. There’s just not much to it in the gameplay department.
Time for a remake for the PS5, with a hyper realistically looking Moe, Larry and Curly
And Shemp
Make it an open world game where you just cause mayhem.
@@doctorthirteen5727 YES
@@deathtowrestling2518 Shemp DLC costs extra.
@@KairuHakubi *pokes your eyes*
I used to play this on the Commodore 64 back around ‘87 or ‘88. The Ghostbusters 2 image was the animated intro to “Defender of the Crown” instead which was Cinemaware’s other big game at the time. I thought they packed the wrong disks in the box. They got me too. lol
I never noticed that the image of the banker on the box art for the game was a picture of Ted Healy. That is a really cool Easter egg. You're correct about the Stooges relationship with Healy. Healy was an alcoholic with a bad temper who paid the Stooges peanuts. Ironically, if not for Shemp leaving the act due to Healy, Curly wouldn't have joined the act.
I rented this game as a kid in the late 80s, forgot everything about it, and then all the great memories came flooding back when I heard “Hey fellas - we’re in the wrong game!”
It is gratifying to see a review of the Three Stooges Games after all these years. I created the audio for the Amiga version which was the first game platform that could do justice to this license. Incredible Technologies (the developer of the Amiga, PC and C64 versions of the game) got the award in 1986 for best game audio. It was tough. I was working from VHS tapes and digitizing on a PC was just barely possible. Still, I'm proud of the result on the Amiga (your mileage on other platforms will vary). All those days in the "Stooge Mines" paid off and I am glad that we had a chance to work on this 'evergreen' license.
The windows "remastered" version always looked the most terrifying.
The minigame where you hit the other stooges was about changing the speed the hand moved when selecting a minigame. If you successfully hit them enough, you'd slow it down.
"Hehehe... You forgot to duck!"
"So did you!"
*WHAM*
I crack up every time. The stooges were truly comedic geniuses ❤️
I'd remember watching "The New Three Stooges" cartoon from 1965. That felt like Moe, Larry, and Curly was in the Hanna Barbara world.
They cameoed in a "New Scooby-Doo Mystery" too.
Hanna-Barbera also did Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello at around that same time, though it oddly took them about 20 more years to get around to the Little Rascals.
Was that the one where The Stooges have robot superpowers? No, really! I swear I'm not making that up!
@@ianstratton That was the Robonic Stooges.
@@EAKugler I remember them being in a few of the "Scooby-doo Movies" series in the 1970s.
I remember playing this game as well as Fester's Quest where you played as Uncle Fester shooting monsters with a musket/blunderbuss.
this game was a lot more fun than Fester's Quest. Of course, pulling out my toenails with plyers was more fun than Fester's Quest.
AVGN reviewed this game in one of his Christmas Wishlist videos.
Yep
Pat the NES Punk also reviewed this one
@@JoeyJ0J0 Yep
The only important comment
I had this game for my Commodore 64 in the late 80s-early 90s. Though the version I had the 'wrong game' title at the beginning was "Defender of the Crown", not "Ghostbusters".
Same as on my Amiga.
you should talk about the cartoon next!I used to watch it when i was a kid,they had life action scenes sometimes in the episodes
YESSSS IM SO GLAD YOU MENTIONED THIS
The cartoons were terrible
@@emobassist Yes, so much so that the Stooges themselves riffed on one in "Three Stooges in Orbit".
I love that terrible cartoon! Good stuff
I mostly remember the cartoon where The Three Stooges get a job as organists in a silent movie theatre!
Does anyone remember the Silent Film Live Stage Show at Universal Studios in the mid-80s? They would take people from the audience and put them in movie scenes, like flying a plane of jumping off a cliff. The final "scene" was to take all the volunteers and put them in a big pie fight. I wasn't selected and it's scarred me for the last 30 years.
Akron Ohio in the 80’s had a 3stooges fest… when I was a kid. I always wanted to do the curly shuffle … I memorized it.. when that event came… my parents wouldn’t let me go on stage… I think the prize was 100$.. to this day I will never go on a stage
@@kevin2400 I am so sorry. That broke my heart.
I've never watched any Stooges media in my life, but your channel makes me really want to get into them! This game was one of my only reference points for them when the AVGN did a video on it a few years ago
You won't regret it for a second! The big question is: will you prefer Curly or Shemp?
Hi Shunks
@@davidmeyer6908 there are shemp people?
@@neszero Hello.
I prefer Shemp over Curly.
Joe Besser is the worst stooge.
I had this game for the Commodore 64. Loved it. By the way, the hand slap mini-game controls the speed of the hand in the selection. SOOOO if you get the handslap going good, the hand on the selection slows down. Hence you won't stop on the mousetrap.
Had this game for the Commodore 64... Had a lot of fun playing it... The good ol' days
I had this game, and one of my favorites was also the oyster soup minigame. But it drove me nuts when an oyster would bite your spoon, you'd hear Curly yell... and then they'd cut to that stupid shot of him looking at the bowl with that dumb sheepish grin. It didn't fit, and it always pissed me off, because it felt lazy and didn't make sense. Also, I hadn't yet seen that episode of the Three Stooges it was based on, so when I saw that episode years later after playing the game so much as a kid, it was pretty interesting.
I know it's not the best game ever, but as a Stooge fan, I just love this game.
None of them are quite the multimedia feast of the Cinemaware Stooges game, But I always enjoyed the Stooges Arcade game, "Brides is Brides" (Featuring a Billy Gilbert-esq Opera Singer bonus stage), and the Laurel and Hardy Commodore 64 game (Which probably should have been called Laurel Vs. Hardy since it's a two player slapstick war). There's also a Honeymooners PC game (where you have to drive the bus as Ralph, and navigate the sewers as Norton). I guess what I'm hinting at, is I really enjoyed your take on the Stooges NES game, and would love to hear your take on other slapstick inspired games, as well!
That Ghostbusters 2 thing was only on NES which was 1990. The original game was 87 so that predated Ghostbusters2 which was 89. It was Defender of the Crown on Amiga.
Damn you’re right
I owned this game as a child. When the fake “Ghostbusters 2” logo popped up, I immediately turned off the game, assuming we had somehow gotten the wrong game. I then made my dad go and exchange the game. When I popped in the “new” one and saw the fakeout logo again... oh no...
EDIT: The slapping mini game could actually be used to adjust the speed of Moe’s hand on the game selection screen! This was very useful later on as the hand speed gets really fast.
2:33 the hospital game pays tribute to the Dizzy Doctors short (1937 I think)
Your Three Stooges 2012 movie review is what made me subscribe in the first place. I love the Three Stooges as well.
I could still picture myself as a kid in my room putting this game in for the first time and being fooled for a few seconds on that Ghostbusters II title screen. (Though it immediately seemed off since it wasn't the official GB2 logo.)
The music at 9:52 is Mozart's Sonata Facile. Also, great work as always. Had this game as a kid, and was also a big Stooges fan. I agree that the boxing minigame was garbage. I had no idea the game was updated!
i can't believe the timing on this--i looked up this exact game yesterday because your videos on the stooges had me remember that it even existed. glad to see you get to this bad boy! now of course The Curly Shuffle is next on the docket for "inexplicable stooge culture" because i cannot for the life of me understand how THAT took off.
I remember buying this game at Sears of all places. One of the best Commodore-64 games I had at the time. I remember marveling at how great the graphics were at the time.
Thought you were a little harsh on it. I loved this game on the NES and played it repeatedly when I was 15 until I got the best ending. I always thought it was a blast (though I was always baffled as to why Curly suddenly looked more like Shemp during the pie fight level). I even tracked down a copy recently so I could play it again.
I remember renting this game with my friend, and it made for a fun evening. It was less frustrating than Who Framed Roger Rabbit for the NES, and we kept trying to get the slap fights even though you don’t gain money from it.
I never could figure out the Roger Rabbit game.
Hey Joe, this game was made by cinema ware who made some awesome theatrical games of the 80’s. I played it on the Amiga, which looked a lot better than the NES version you had. The game was sure hard, but a lot were back then, I think I only ever got half the money, but I played on a joystick which was a lot less precise. The mini game where you play as Moe slapping Larry and Curly, the point was to bring the bar to the slower end so that the mini game selector period was slower.
My brother bought this game used in the late days of GameStop still carrying older systems. We had trouble getting it to work on our old and finnicky NES, and thought it was actually a mislabelled game for a bit because of the Ghostbusters 2 logo. We were willing to try that too, but eventually got it to work and learned the joke.
Cinemaware's games were all a bit unusual. This game came out in 1987, when video games were all a little bit unusual. The Cinemaware angle was an 'interactive movie' at this time. I loved Defender of the Crown, Three Stooges, and Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon
I also like the Three Stooge's Arcade game from Mylstar Electronics the company that's known for Q-Bert.
For your next forgotten failures you should cover National Lampoons Christmas Vacation 2 Eddies Island Adventure. Or do an Almost Classics on Funny Farm w Chevy Chase
That 3 Stooges NES game is my Childhood! There were Saturdays I would play it morning to bed time. I killed the Boxing game. My best time was 30 seconds. The game where Moe hits Larry and Curly has a point to it. The more you hit them,the slower the job searcher goes.
BTW, @5:00, about the oyster stew skit, it was first done on film in 1926 in the Billy Bevan comedy Wandering Willies, it's at 7: 50, the waiter says "These are the freshest oysters you've ever had", lol. It's probably the funniest version of the skit, IMO. Abbott and Costello also did it in a film and also their TV show. Finally Larry Stooge did it with gumbo and giant lobster hands in Income Tax Sappy. I've watched the Larry part in slow motion on RUclips and with the slurred Larry voice, its hilarious! I was going to make a video of it but got lazy, lol.
I would kill for a Hats Off Entertainment/AVGN collaboration, they seem like kindred spirits.
so glad this guy is taking off, been here since before 10k subs, which excitingly isn't even that long ago.
Sounds like you had the same experience I had but with the Rocky & Bullwinkle game
I remember playing it on the Commodore 64 and there was no ghostbusters screen. It was the stooges opening photo of the three of them with “hey this looks like a kids game.” Otherwise it’s the same game.
I distinctly remember reading about this game when it was in Nintendo Power, I remember the pie throwing scene, and the bowl of chowder stills... never played it.
Nice video. I bought this for my Commodore 64 back in the day and was amazed at the box art and contents including a history of the stooges and even a letter from moe's daughter Joan. However, I never put together that it was Ted Healy on the front. I knew that image from somewhere but couldn't place it. LOL so kudos for that. When I started my channel Three years ago one of the first videos I did was on this game. The reason there were so few mini games was due to the size of the floppies that were used in the original development. Everything had to be shrunk down to fit on one or two floppies which is no mean feat considering how large the voice samples and graphics were especially on the Amiga version. Cinemaware had wanted to include more games but did not have the space. I'm surprised you didn't show off the more impressive Amiga version which is more in Line with the version released later on the PlayStation. The NES has got to be one of the worst with its ugly color palette.
"I'm a victim of circumstance" sounds like something someone would say now lol.
There's another Three Stooges game for PC called The Three Stooges in Treasure Hunt Hijinks. I never played it myself, but from the few images I've seen, it looks like a find the hidden object game similar to the I Spy series.
I was a MASSIVE Three Stooges fan as a child. I collected SO much of their merchandise, and this game was one of them. I was as excited as you were. LOL. Thanks so much for bringing back the memories! :)
This was my first NES game that I ever got, I loved it so much. NOTE: The point of the slapping mini-game is to slow down Moe's hand in the job selection screen. You land hits, hand goes slower. You get hit or your attacks are thwarted, hand goes faster.
I played the hell out of this on rental back when I was single digits. The rental didn't a manual, of course. So I had *no* idea what I was doing and that remained the case as I've come across the game as time went on. Nice inclusion of FuncoLand sleeve, man, that was *the* place to be. Got Guardian Heroes for Saturn at one of those.
I still have this game in my NES collection, but ironically it glitches out at the Ghostbusters II intro screen and freezes there 😅
Hey joe, it was awesome seeing you on vee infuso channel, I was like "holy shit, its Joe. I like that dudes content"
There was a Three Stooges VHS/board game too. I'm not sure when it was released but I used to play it with a friend around 1989.
You make the best videos on RUclips right now.
I used to play this game when I was a kid soon after came out. I liked it and had played it several times, it was a unique game.
I dont think I’ve ever seen the three stooges shorts or movies, but your way of presenting the history of them is so interesting that I cant stop watching your videos! Keep up the good work
“The Curly Shuffle” peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984. Yup. That high on the Billboard Charts. Competing alongside Prince, Madonna, Jackson, Duran Duran, Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates, Talking Heads, etc. LOL
WOW! I had this as a kid, and I'm truly stunned that it was completely recreated TWICE with virtually no true upgrade. That is mind boggling.
I had this on NES as a kid as well, also super surprised to find as my Dad and I were both huge Stooge fans. The game made no sense! fortunately came with a manual which kinda explained how the game was working. just a series of random mini games basically. my favorite was the hospital, and throwing pies. but the game was SUPER hard and went by extremely quickly. it kinda had a creepy quality to it.
Someone somewhere really had faith this game would eventually make it big with an audience.
Damn thing got more ports and re-releases than most of the classics
So basically I can see Hats Off Entertainment as mix of Nostalgia Critic & Angry Video Game Nerd, but Just in a more calm and easy to follow narrative.
I can remember a 3 Stooges arcade game, multi player and a big console. Only saw it once back in the 90's I think and nothing like this game.
One thing you didn't mention is that each item on the rotating menu takes one day from your stock of 30. The "money" game is a gamble that you'll make more money with it than with a job. The "banker" game just wastes a day, as does the "trap" game, which also reduces your "lives". The Three Stooges game was first developed by Cinemaware, whose stock in trade was "cinematic" games presented as movie genres (serials, big bug monster movies, WWI movies, Cold War, gangsters, and historical dramas.) I beliueve this game was the only one to feature a licensed IP.
they also did Wings, based off the classic black & white movie, though that may have not "officially" been based on it and was just a heavily inspired version of it, not sure.
Thank you for reviewing this game. I never played it, but I do recall it appearing in the movie Lethal Weapon 3.
I remember playing this at my cousins' house when it first came out. Actually, I only remembered the soup level until now, but wow, what a flashback! 😆
I played this game on my Commodore 128 in 1986. I loved this game!
I was already in my 20s when this came out. My kids had an NES, and this was the only game I actually played on it!
Dude, that Funcoland dustcover...
I remember seeing an article about this in Nintendo Power as a kid. Didn’t know much about the Three Stooges back then though. I knew of them but not very well. Quite some time later I got it for my brother who loves the Three Stooges and enjoys this game. Didn’t know there were so many ports and remakes though. Wow.
The Curly minigame used to creep me out as a kid, it still does, something about the fuzzy soundbite and Curly's facial expressions.
Thought I was the only one!
@@shadowfrost44 I played it back in 1990, and yeah, whenever he made that derpy face and the soundbite played, it freaked me out. Uncanny valley maybe?
I was wondering why they picked Ghostbusters as the intro gag and then remembered both Ghostbusters and the Stooges are Columbia/Sony properties. That was a clever use of resources there.
I remember when this first came out. My dad and I would play it
6:33 The Three Stooges predicted Radiohead
Not forgotten by me......
I still play my GameBoy version in glorious color! Everything about it brings a smile to my face.
Did you not realize that the fighting minigame slowed down the hand for the job selection? If you landed a ton of blows you could get the hand so slow you could basically choose which job you wanted. How do you fail to mention this?
Cinemaware had such an odd catalog. “Looks good, with minimal replay value” sums up many of them.
I adore your channel . So well curated and presented . Thank you 💙
That ending was more faithful to the 3 stooges than the whole video game
I remember a very different Three stooges video game on PC where they're basically in a barn the entire time and the game is just a finite game where you find random items and objects that they point out on a chart on the left side of the screen and you have to find them inside this Barn within a certain time limit or you fail and it doesn't really end it just keeps going and I give you more items. I think when you find items they slap each other or make a noise or something but I'm not sure. I played it when I was like 4 years old.
Another great episode. I love you!
I definitely rented this one at least once as a kid. (Probably *only* once, as I can't imagine finding it enjoyable enough to come back to...)
Ooh, you have to talk about the arcade game from 1984. It's a 3 player co-op game.
We played the hell out of this game as kids. I was never able to finish Larry's violin/boxing mini game. Not even once! So frustrating.
I remember playing a C64 version. Which if it was originally for Amiga, explains a lot.
And I love The Curly shuffle...Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk!!
You have to go into a deep dive for these games.Ive only heard of this game when I was a kid.
Omg!! I used to have this! Cant believe you found that footage. Btw, there used to be a Where's Waldo? Game during this time ad well.
I use to always think Moe was kind of ugly but the more I watch the three stooges (thanks to you). He really isn't a bad looking dude.
Lol He’s funny
I love how the nes game and the 2012 film both have the same plot for some reason. (This can't be just some coincidence, )
THANK GOD someone else pointed it out. I've been saying this for years and no one believed me
I notice that too
Not to mention the movie has a scene where the Stooges are slapping each other in front of a brick wall while wearing overalls. I wonder if the Farley brothers knew about the game.
It is basically a stock plotline. I'm sure the film makers were familiar with the game, anyway.
@@ronburgundy244 Maybe Ron just Maybe
Awesome video so far I love the Three Stooges and I'm not familiar with this game so thanks for that!
Ah, no way! I was actually gonna ask if you'd do a video about this, but here it already is!
This game has a weird history, as noted here. They sure did like remaking and re-releasing this thing all over the place at seemingly random times. It's a pretty fun game and arguably, the NES version is the best one. (Since it has the _Ghostbusters II_ reference.)
I would say an important part of the game in the slap game. If you alternate between hitting Larry and Curly, that lowers the speed meter. That meter refers to the speed that the hand moves when you get to choose a minigame. Then if you wish, you have a much better chance at selecting a mini game you are better at for the better payout.
I love the Three Stooges! This game was always a mystery to me, but thanks for the cool vid :)
I first was made aware of this game thanks to Lethal Weapon 3, it was featured briefly in the film.
I rented it a few times on NES back in the day, it was one of the few games my dad, as a Stooge fan, was interested in. BTW, the slapping game can be used to slow down Moe's hand on the job select screen.
On the Tandy version of this game, the hospital level had the stooges in little cars which was more accurate to “Men In Black”, the episode it was based on.
there is actually another 3 Stooges game out there that is completely unrelated to this one. It was published by eGames in the late 2000s during the big boom in casual games and the "Hidden Object" genre and from what I remember of it, plays in that style with maybe some lite point & click adventure elements and done in a cartoony art style.
I got the PS1 version of this when I was a kid. Admittedly it's not really a great game but it's fun to have for the novelty.